Hau urged to abolish Saturday parking fees

MONEY BAGS:A DPP city councilor said it was no wonder the Taipei mayor had forgotten his promise as the city had collected millions in Saturday fees

By Mo Yan-chih / Staff Reporter

A city employee issues a parking fee at a roadside parking spot in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Liu Jung, Taipei Times

A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilor yesterday lashed out at Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), saying he had failed to carry out his campaign promise of canceling roadside parking fees on Saturdays, and added that the city government should implement the policy as soon as possible.

Roadside parking in Taipei City is free on Sundays. Hau promised in September last year that the city would cancel Saturday roadside parking fees early this year.

“The mayoral election is long over and he did not even mention the policy in the city development work report to the Taipei City Council. Lying to Taipei residents is unacceptable,” DPP Taipei City Councilor Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤) said.

Wu said 10,711 parking spaces along 513 alleys and roads charge parking fees on Saturdays in Taipei City, ranging from NT$20 to NT$60. In New Taipei City (新北市), 99 percent of the 28,787 roadside parking spaces are free of charge on Saturdays.

Last year, the city’s Department of Transportation collected NT$154 million (US$5.3 million) in revenue from Saturday roadside parking fees.

“The fee policy helped the city government make NT$303,206 per day on average. No wonder the Hau team stalled the fee cancelation plan,” she said, urging Hau to follow the example of New Taipei City and implement the policy as soon as possible.

Tthe department’s Parking Management Division chief, Huang Li-ya (黃莉雅), said collecting -roadside parking fees on Saturdays was aimed at keeping the number of cars in commercial and tourism areas under control, rather than making profits.

She said the department planned to stop collecting Saturday parking fees on dozens of roads and alleys in residential areas as its first step toward abolishing the charges.

Roadside parking fees on Saturdays at major roads, including Zhongxiao E Road and Zhongshan N Road, along busy commercial districts and near popular -attractions, such as Yangmingshan, would remain in place, she said.

Huang declined to give a detailed timetable for the implementation of the new policy, but said the department would carry out the policy about two weeks after